Hugo Bethancourt thought his stepfather's "life was too perfect" and so he took steps to change that -- he killed the family dog and set fire to his mother's house, according to prosecutors in court documents.

Bethancourt, 27, faces charges for the incident, which happened earlier this month on the southwest side of town in the 6300 block of Southwood Court North.

The trouble began when Bethancourt's mother discovered her dog, Mimi, was dead. She called her husband to tell him he shouldn't come home and that her son had killed Mimi by kicking her.

The stepfather called Bethancourt, who admitted killing the dog, court documents say. "When asked why, Hugo told [the stepfather] his life was too perfect and that he wanted him to go through the same kind of hell that Hugo went through."

While driving to a friend's house for the night, the stepfather talked to Bethancourt for 10 minutes and told him "he wanted him out of his house because he was tired of his violence."

In response, "Hugo told him that he did not know what Hugo was doing in the house and that he was going to 'mess up his house,'" court documents say. "[The stepfather] stated that Hugo told him that when he got back to his house he was going to say 'Damn, Hugo messed up my house.'"

At that point, the stepfather began to hear the home alarm go off in the background.

Investigators later determined a fire had been deliberately set in two bedrooms in the home. Bethancourt faces a felony arson charge; so far there is nothing to indicate any dog-related charges.